A new generation of health care, research and education professionals are graduating from Oregon Health & Science University today. A total of 1,197 degrees and certificates will be awarded.
Graduates will assemble for the all-school commencement ceremony at 1 p.m., Friday, June 6, at the Oregon Convention Center. The keynote speaker will be OHSU Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer Peter Barr-Gillespie, Ph.D.
The ceremony will be followed by separate hooding ceremonies for the OHSU schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, and for the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. The OSU/OHSU Doctor of Pharmacy Program will also hold a reception that day, in addition to a separate graduation ceremony that will be held in Corvallis on Friday, June 13. The OHSU School of Nursing will hold additional commencement events at its Ashland, Klamath Falls and Monmouth campuses.
"The Class of 2025 is skilled, courageous and ready to build its legacy,” said OHSU Interim President Steve Stadum, J.D. “Having been trained in a mission-driven environment where teaching, healing and discovery converge, each one of our 1,197 graduates is capable of helping to shape the future of human health and well-being, and I am confident their contributions will make the world a better place.”
“Graduation marks an incredible milestone in the lives of OHSU students, filling all of my colleagues and I with the hope and promise of a bright future ahead,” said OHSU Provost Marie Chisholm-Burns, Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., FCCP, FASHP, FAST, FNAP, FACHE.
“At OHSU, we are so proud of the Class of 2025 as they set forth on their professional journeys to improve health and well-being for all. We look forward to celebrating with the graduates, their families, friends and the OHSU community.”
The OHSU School of Dentistry will award 90 degrees this year.
“This class has made remarkable progress since beginning their journey during the pandemic,” said Ronald Sakaguchi, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.B.A., dean of the OHSU School of Dentistry.
“Their focus on patient-centered oral health care and their strong commitment to community service shape who they are. They have dedicated dozens of hours to delivering oral care to low-income and houseless individuals in rural and frontier regions in Oregon, as well as in Cambodia, Thailand and the Dominican Republic. The COVID-19 pandemic showed this class how rapidly health care evolves. They have demonstrated professionalism by adapting to changing circumstances while remaining warm, compassionate and dedicated to delivering outstanding oral health care.”
The OHSU School of Medicine will award 433 degrees and certificates.
“OHSU’s 2025 graduates in medicine and biomedical science are launching their careers at a time of challenge and importance,” said Nathan Selden, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the OHSU School of Medicine. “Every great society leverages the value of outstanding science and health care to elevate its people and their success. I’m deeply proud of our graduates who now have the skills, wisdom and creativity necessary to move our communities forward, in Oregon, and around the world. Society’s duty now is to provide them the venues and the opportunities to do their great work. Congratulations to all our graduates on their incredible accomplishments.”
The OHSU School of Nursing will award 511 degrees.
“OHSU School of Nursing graduates are well-prepared to provide care as Registered and Advanced Practice Nurses, prepare future nurses, lead, improve health care and outcomes, and discover new science. They are welcome additions to the nursing workforce and will lead wherever they are,” said Susan Bakewell-Sachs, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, dean of the OHSU School of Nursing.
The OSU/OHSU Doctor of Pharmacy Program will award 64 degrees.
“The graduating class of 2025, with their outstanding accomplishments, has been a source of pride and inspiration for the college,” said David Bearden, Pharm.D., FIDP, FCCP, dean of the OSU College of Pharmacy. “Their contributions to health care in communities throughout Oregon and their work across the region signifies their readiness to step into the profession as the role of pharmacists continues to evolve. Together with our entire faculty and staff, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to them. Their dedication and commitment to patient care have equipped them to not only propel the profession of pharmacy forward but also to emerge as innovative leaders in collaborative health care. Working with them and watching their growth has been a pleasure.”
The OHSU-PSU School of Public Health will award 99 degrees and certificates.
"Though we face unprecedented challenges in public health, our commitment to improving health and assuring health equity remains our foundational principle,” said Paul K. Halverson, Dr.P.H., M.H.S.A., dean of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. “Today, the work of the past several decades — building a resilient public health infrastructure and creating systems that serve all communities — faces threats both structurally and fiscally. Now, more than ever, our graduates will be called upon to stand firm and be accountable for the collective efforts toward safeguarding the right of every individual to a long and healthy life. We are confident our graduates will rise to the challenge, drawing upon all they've learned and the skills they’ve built, to further advance the important values that we hold so dear in public health."
Meet some of OHSU’s 2025 graduates
OHSU School of Dentistry — Tiffany Tep, D.M.D.
By Rhonda Morin
Tiffany Tep first considered dentistry early in her life, but it wasn’t until she began working with children that she found her passion for the field.
While in high school, the Beaverton local resident took part in the OHSU School of Dentistry’s Dental Explorers year-long program. In college at Oregon State University, she joined a pre-dental club while studying biology with minors in chemistry and business. She also gained insight by shadowing at a dental clinic, where she observed patient care.
When Tep began dental school in 2021, she found it challenging to adjust to the isolation of online learning. Pandemic protocols — face masks, social distancing and virtual classes — made it harder to connect with classmates. To cope with the tough moments, Tep got involved in extracurricular groups to build a community of shared interests. Once in-person activities resumed, her cohort strengthened, and she began to thrive by finding connection and renewed motivation.
“I like staying busy and engaging with my community,” said Tep, who volunteers for Voices for Inclusion, Belonging and Equity, or VIBE, the American Student Dental Association, Bridges Collaborative Care Clinic, the School of Dentistry student government and a Pediatric Interest Group.
Tep is a child of two Khmer Rouge genocide survivors. In December 2024, a service trip to Cambodia solidified Tep’s decision to specialize in pediatric dentistry. She traveled to Phnom Penh with two School of Dentistry peers and trip leader Michael Lacey, D.M.D, M.A.G.D., assistant professor in the School of Dentistry Restorative Dentistry department. The experience also linked the group with dental students from the University of Health Sciences in Cambodia.
Tep isn’t going far once she graduates. Ten days later, she has an orientation for her OHSU Advanced Education Program in Pediatric Dentistry residency program, which starts July 1.
“After my first rotation in the pediatric clinic, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I left every day feeling so happy, and I couldn’t wait to come back the next day,” Tep said, referring to her training during the D.M.D. program.
OHSU School of Medicine — Calvin Jara, M.D.
By Karen Bishop
Calvin Jara came from a household where stories mattered. His father was an immigrant from Ecuador and his mother is from Iran. Growing up in New York meant living at the crossroads of these worlds — learning to shift between languages, expectations and ways of seeing. His family name, Jara, means rockrose: a rose that grows on rock. It’s an image that has stayed with him as a private north star — to endure and become something beautiful not despite the difficulty, but because of it.
After graduating from Boston College, he spent a year traveling the world to understand how others live. Through his travels, he became passionate about how environmental conditions can prevent children from playing outdoors, as he did as a kid in upstate New York. He saw the beauty of humanity and the ache of inequity.
His journey into medicine began shortly after that trip, when he started working at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. There, he began to concentrate on research to better understand how environmental factors influence health for communities in the city.
Through his work, he became inspired to pursue a medical education that would allow him to serve as a physician-leader at the intersection of medicine, legislation and community. He applied and was accepted at OHSU.
“OHSU has been the most meaningful chapter of my life,” Jara said. “Here, I found an education that emphasizes the crucial responsibility to use one’s knowledge to better serve the world, and one that is emboldened by health policy, translational research and delivery of care to communities across the great state of Oregon. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to have served as president of my medical school class, a member of OHSU’s School of Medicine’s admissions committee, and as a member of OHSU’s board of directors.”
Jara quotes Mark Twain when contemplating his experience at OHSU: “Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
“I’ve been surrounded by people who believed in me before I believed in myself — who reminded me, through their example, of what it means to lead with humility, courage and heart,” Jara said. “Looking back, I recognize now what I felt, but perhaps could not entirely see during that first interview: a quiet certainty that this was the place where I would grow toward the person I was meant to become.”
Jara will be staying at OHSU for his residency in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery. “I feel deeply fortunate and grateful for the opportunity to continue my journey here,” he said.
OHSU School of Nursing — Hailey Hughes, B.S. - Monmouth campus
By Seth Preuss
Hailey Hughes will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in nursing this year after attending the OHSU School of Nursing Monmouth campus. Hughes’ interest in health care stems from childhood. She suffered a knee injury when she was growing up and had a very positive experience in physical therapy, so her first inclination was a career in physical therapy.
Her high school had a health services program, and her focus shifted to nursing after touring the OHSU Monmouth campus as part of that program. She completed an associate’s degree at Chemeketa Community College, but the OHSU nursing program was always the goal.
“From the moment I set foot on campus for the first time in high school, I saw that OHSU faculty are very supportive. They will do anything to help you succeed, and there was a collaborative learning culture there that I really enjoyed,” Hughes said. “I never even applied to another nursing school. I was like, ‘I will wait to get into this program because this is the one I want to be in.’ It has more clinical hours than any other program in the state, so you're more practice-ready, and those are just things I really valued in my education.”
She credits her peers and the supportive atmosphere at her campus for her success, even in challenging times or after hard conversations. By way of example, she shared that she was assigned to an intensive care unit, or ICU, team for her final practicum over her first choice of working with an emergency room unit. After the initial frustration, she was met with support and an honest conversation from her adviser.
“He told me, ‘You know how to work in an ED. You've never worked in an ICU, and I think you would learn more being in a new situation, in a new environment, than you ever would if you went to an ER.’ And so, I ended up doing my practicum in the ICU and ended up getting a job there because I absolutely fell in love with the ICU,” Hughes said.
That kind of mentorship is what Hughes highlighted the most when reflecting on her time in the program.
“Having instructors who aren't just pushing you along — they really see something in you and try to make that connection because they really care about your life after school,” Hughes said. “It's not just, ‘OK, let's get you through to graduation,’ they want you to succeed in your future practice and want you to be in the best fit possible.”
Hughes plans to build her foundational and critical care skills and is considering furthering her education in the future. “I loved my experience so much that it's in the back of my mind to come back to OHSU for my Doctor of Nursing Practice someday,” said Hughes.
OSU/OHSU Doctor of Pharmacy Program, OSU College of Pharmacy — Bryan Le, Pharm.D.
By Seth Preuss
Bryan Le has always been curious about science and how it can explain and improve people’s lives. He earned his Bachelor of Science in biology and health sciences at Oregon State University and was part of his high school’s feeder program, which led to his acceptance into the pharmacy program.
“I've always had a really big interest in chemistry, so when I found that health care was attached with chemistry to pharmacy, I thought it was a no-brainer because it's using these small pills, these small drugs to help make big changes in people’s lives,” Le said. “We do so many cool things in society — sports, art, music — and this is my way of trying to help push the world forward so society can continue on and keep innovating.”
Le is passionate about improving the quality of life for humankind as a whole and feels that he’s learned something from each interaction he’s had in the program. Whether they were faculty, peers or patients, Le felt shaped by those interactions daily.
Le has already been accepted by the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill for his residency and looks forward to working on their high-acuity ICU team.
Le hopes to bring the knowledge he gained back to Oregon one day so he can help train the next generation of clinicians.
“I’d really like to be a practicing faculty member one day, teaching and working in an emergency room, just to give back in some way because so many people have helped me realize my potential, and I want to pay that back down the line,” he said.
OHSU-PSU School of Public Health — Vincenzo José Cornacchione Peña, M.P.H.
By Kelly Malakaua
When Vincenzo José Cornacchione Peña was a child, he dreamed of becoming a doctor because science captivated him, and the only path he knew at the time that promoted health was medicine. Everything changed when Cornacchione Peña discovered sociology and gender studies in his undergraduate education.
“Those courses truly spoke to what I cared about — understanding how social structures shape health outcomes,” Cornacchione Peña said. Once his university launched a public health major, he signed up without hesitation. “I never looked back.”
Graduating from the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health will be his proudest achievement, a milestone shaped by resilience and identity. Born in Venezuela, Cornacchione Peña intimately knows the barriers that come with immigration.
“It's been a blessing in disguise,” Cornacchione Peña said. “It taught me how to practice cultural humility, speak multiple languages and connect with communities in a meaningful way.”
For Cornacchione Peña, this moment is more than a degree; it’s a tribute to the people and places that have shaped him.
Cornacchione Peña's journey hasn't been without its challenges. Personal hardships in undergraduate and graduate school meant taking time away from academics — periods that tested his self-confidence and fueled imposter syndrome. But Cornacchione Peña credits his growth to the support networks that carried him through — faculty and staff grounded in antiracism, friends in BREATHE, a BIPOC student-led group, and his chosen family in Oregon.
“They’ve all reminded me there’s no one ‘right’ way to do public health and that building community and giving back is essential to the work,” he said.
Looking ahead, Cornacchione Peña hopes to become an epidemiologist and educator, focusing on the intersection of language, power and health. He wants to explore how linguicism — discrimination based on language — impacts population health and find ways to measure and disrupt those systems in public health practice.
“Ultimately, I want to democratize this field,” Cornacchione Peña said. “There’s so much knowledge in our communities, and public health should be accessible to everyone who wants to be part of it.”
OHSU 2025 Degree Data
Total degrees and certificates given during the 2024 to 2025 school year – 1,197
OHSU School of Dentistry – 90 total degrees
Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.) – 73
Master’s degrees – 7
- Master of Science in Orthodontics – 4
- Master of Science in Periodontics – 3
Advanced Education – 10
- Endodontics – 3
- Orthodontics – 4
- Periodontics – 3
OHSU School of Medicine – 433 total degrees and certificates
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) – 126
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) – 63
- Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience – 1
- Behavioral Neuroscience – 2
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biomedicine – 1
- Biomedical Engineering – 12
- Biomedical Sciences – 6
- Cancer Biology – 6
- Cell and Developmental Biology – 2
- Clinical Psychology – 7
- Health and Clinical Informatics – 2
- Microbiology – 3
- Molecular and Medical Genetics – 2
- Neuroscience – 13
- Physiology and Pharmacology – 6
Master’s degrees – 131
- Master of Business Administration – 18
- Master of Clinical Research – 13
- Master of Physician Assistant Studies – 41
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – 1
- Master of Science in Bioinformatics and Computational Biomedicine – 3
- Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering – 1
- Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences – 1
- Master of Science in Cancer Biology – 1
- Master of Science in Food Systems and Society – 2
- Master of Science in Health and Clinical Informatics – 15
- Master of Science in Healthcare Administration – 19
- Master of Science in Human Nutrition – 10
- Master of Science in Medical Physics – 6
Graduate certificates – 43
- Dietetic Internship – 13
- Health and Clinical Informatics – 13
- Human Investigations Program – 17
Bachelor’s degrees – 49
- Bachelor of Science in Emergency Medical Services Management – 2
- Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science – 37
- Bachelor of Science in Radiation Therapy – 10
Associate of Applied Science in Paramedic – 21
OHSU School of Nursing – 511 total degrees
Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) – 72
- Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner – 8
- Family Nurse Practitioner – 14
- Nurse Anesthesia – 13
- Nurse Midwifery – 13
- Nursing – 5
- Pediatric Primary and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner – 6
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner – 13
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.) – 2
Master’s degrees – 23
- Master of Nursing in Nursing Education – 23
Bachelor of Science in Nursing – 414
OSU/OHSU Doctor of Pharmacy Program, OSU College of Pharmacy – 64 total degrees
- Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) – 64
OHSU-PSU School of Public Health – 99 total degrees and certificates
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) – 10
- Community Health – 1
- Epidemiology – 4
- Health Systems and Policy – 5
Master’s degrees (M.P.H., M.S.) – 80
- Master of Public Health in Biostatistics – 3
- Master of Public Health in Environmental Systems and Human Health – 6
- Master of Public Health in Epidemiology – 21
- Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy – 16
- Master of Public Health in Health Promotion – 21
- Master of Public Health Practice – 13
- Master of Science in Biostatistics – 8
Graduate certificates – 1
- Public Health – 1